A Seattle, WA-based investor group has signed a letter of intent to purchase the Washington, California and British Columbia operating assets of bankrupt MTR Western. The luxury motorcoach company was headed by Frederick Darren Berg, who has been arrested and accused of being involved in a Ponzi scheme. The Seattle Times reports that a group led by H.S. Wright III intends to buy the four companies. The Seattle entrepreneur’s family built the city’s Space Needle.
MTR Western was placed into bankruptcy on Monday to push along the transaction, according to a bankruptcy trustee for Berg’s assets. Berg allegedly defrauded investors out of nearly $100 million between 2001 and 2010. He currently awaits a hearing in federal court in Seattle. Berg is accused of financing MTR’s fleet of 95 highend motorcoaches with money diverted from his company Meridian Group. Wright’s investor group, GTO, has agreed to lend money to MTR until the deal is finalized. According to the Times, the sale would preserve about 150 jobs. For more, visit www. seattletimes.nwsource.com.